Evaluating the Health Effects of Social Interventions

Policy makers, such as politicians and civil servants, make decisions on a daily basis which affect our lives and possibly our health. These include decisions about whether and where to build new roads, how much to spend on building new housing, and how best to improve the public's health.

To help with this decision-making process they need continual access to good quality health research. This programme contributes to this by carrying out new studies, for example, into the effects of housing on health. It also brings together existing research and publishes it in summary form, as systematic literature reviews. Our overall aim is to ensure that policy decisions which may affect our health are based on the most reliable research evidence, rather than on poor evidence, anecdote, conventional wisdom, or "what has been done in the past".

This programme, funded by the Chief Scientist Office (CSO) of the Scottish Government Health Directorates, aims to produce evidence to support public health decision-making. In particular we focus on primary research and systematic reviews as a means of evaluating the actual health impacts of social interventions.

The main objectives of the programme are to:

Undertake systematic reviews of the effectiveness of social or health interventions (policies, programmes and projects) in improving health, and

Carry out primary studies evaluating the health impacts of social and health policies and interventions.

Much of our research at present is examining the effects on health and health inequalities of housing and regeneration, employment and welfare, and major sporting events. We also participate in projects aimed at developing new methodologies for evaluation and evidence synthesis.

Katikireddi SV, Valles Sean A. Coupled ethical–epistemic analysis of public health research and practice: categorizing variables to improve population health and equity. American Journal of Public Health 2014:e1-e7

Niedzwiedz CL, Katikireddi SV, Pell JP, Mitchell R. The association between life course socioeconomic position and life satisfaction in different welfare states: European comparative study of individuals in early old age. Age and Ageing 2014;43:431-6

Katikireddi SV. The relationship between evidence and public health policy: case studies of the English public health white paper and minimum unit pricing in Scotland [PhD], MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow 2013.

Kearns A, Whitley E, Bond L, Egan M, Tannahill C. The psychosocial pathway to mental well-being at the local level: investigating the effects of perceived relative position in a deprived area context. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 2013;67:87-94

Skivington K. Incapacity benefit, employment transitions and health: evidence from longitudinal data and a qualitative study [PhD], MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow 2013.

Firth N, Frydenberg E, Bond L. An evaluation of success and dyslexia, a multi component school-based coping program for primary school students with learning disabilities: is it feasible?. Australian Journal of Learning Disabilities 2012;17:147-162

Gibson M, Thomson H, Banas K, Bambra C, Fenton C, Bond L. Welfare to work interventions and their effects on health and well-being of lone parents and their children [protocol]. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2012:CD009820

Katikireddi SV, Mclean JA. Introducing a minimum unit price for alcohol in Scotland: considerations under European law and the implications for European public health [commentary]. European Journal of Public Health 2012;22:457-458

Katikireddi SV, Niedzwiedz CL, Popham F. Trends in population mental health before and after the 2008 recession: a repeat cross-sectional analysis of the 1991–2010 Health Surveys of England. BMJ Open 2012;2:e001790

Lorgelly P, Lawson K, Fenwick E, Briggs A. Outcome measurement in economic evaluations of public health interventions: a role for the capability approach?. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2010;7:2274-89

Skivington K, McCartney G, Thomson H, Bond L. Challenges in evaluating Welfare to Work policy interventions: would an RCT design have been the answer to all our problems?. BMC Public Health 2010;10:254

Egan M, Tannahill C, Petticrew M, Thomas S. Psychosocial risk factors in home and community settings and their associations with population health and health inequalities: a systematic meta-review. BMC Public Health 2008;8:239

Morrison D. Homelessness and deprivation in Glasgow: a 5-year retrospective cohort study of hospitalisations and deaths [MD], MRC Social and Public Health Sciences, Department of Community Medicine, University of Glasgow 2008.

Petticrew M, Platt S, McCollam A, Wilson P, Thomas S. 'We're not short of people telling us what the problems are. We're short of people telling us what to do' theory, methods and findings of a mental health impact assessment. BMC Public Health 2008;8:314

Morrison D, Petticrew M, Thomson H. What are the most effective ways of improving population health through transport interventions? Evidence from systematic reviews. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 2003;57:327-333

Thomson H, Kearns A, Petticrew M. Assessing the health impact of local amenities: a qualitative study of contrasting experiences of local swimming pool and leisure provision in two areas of Glasgow. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 2003;57:663-667